We started staining prostate needle bxs w/ PIN 4 (triple stain).
1. My understanding is that we can bill for 88342 x 3 (per specimen) if a
comment is made on the results of the nuclear staining and cytoplasmic staining
of the DAB and the staining of the Vulcan red. The key is documentation in the
report. This is simple to understand when you rec'd 1 specimen/container, but
we rec'd:
A. Right prostate Bx - Red stained bx: apex
Green stained bx: base
Blue stained bx: midgland
Yellow stained bx: transition
submitted in one Cassette A.
B. Left prostate Bx - Red stained bx: apex
Green stained bx: base
Blue stained bx: midgland
Yellow stained bx: transition
submitted in one Cassette B.
2. If the pathologist needed this stain on every specimen, it would be 8
separate identifiable specimens x 3 (separate identifiable stains in the
cocktail) , therefore 88342 x 24, even though it is only 2 blocks.
3. If the pathologist was only interested in this stain on on the Apex in A and
B it would be 2 specimens x 3, therefore 88342 x 6 for the same 2 blocks (even
though it stains all 8 specimens, only 2 of the 8 are in need of this stain).
Another words, we can't charge the technical component until we find out how
many specimens the pathologist is looking at in a slide (professional
component), even though it is the same amount of work and reagents. Does this
sound right?
4. Is the technical charge always the same as the professional charge?
Another unrelated question - We can bill for decalcification, but is there a
billing code for KOH in the same manner to soften and treat toenails before
processing? It is documented in the Path report.
I know this has been discussed in the archives, but there seems to be
conflicting opinions. Do we know for sure?
Thanks
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